SenenCito 3/15/16 SenenCito 3/15/16

Senén does Writing: Sunrise with instagrammers

Big Apple 3 A. M.

The day is Saturday and my phone alarm is screaming. It's vibrating furiously crawling away from the table, trying it's very best to drop to the floor and escape my desperate attempt to shut it. It's time to wake up and head out to shoot sunrise. I grab everything that's laid out on the table, glance at the MTA last minute changes and run outside, it will take me two hours to reach Coney Island.

Big Apple 3 A. M.

The subway is full of people trying their very best to get home from last night's bender. As i'm walking by I spy a beautiful couple laying on the floor of the dirty subway station, the female is wearing a very short sparkly turquoise dress, one broken shoe and her partner’s coat. Her makeup is messed up and her head is rested on his shoulder. He’s doing his best to stay awake, making sure no one gets too close, he’s counting the minutes till the train arrives wishing he was home already.

I am very tempted to capture this moment.

I reach my destination just in the nick of time, with the thundering sun rising over the horizon and the morning birds singing their song.

My friends are already there, further down the path running to line up shots as soon as possible. We meet up and spend the next hours capturing portraits in the emptiness and silence of the morning sunlight. The only people we see are early runners and elderly couples. We talk about how Instagram has changed and how we’re adjusting to keep things interesting.

It was a successful morning, some incredible photos have been shot and now the sun is too high for to continue shooting. We have breakfast together and head out our own ways.

Days like this have become a somewhat of a tradition in my life. Be it cold, raining or cloudy. The call to shoot sunrise usually comes from Instagram, sometimes a direct message sent by friends, other times a post that is seen by hundreds of thousands of people. The idea is always the same, let’s get a group of talented folk with a passion for shooting together. Let’s see the city from a different point of view and embrace our own unique weirdness.

This is not something I’ve done all my life. For the most part I’ve shied away from working with other photographers. I grew up in a competitive environment where every photographer was jealous of each other. The typical photographer wouldn’t hesitate to stab you in the back and climb over your dead corpse in the desperate attempt to land more gigs, or so I thought. Seeing them not only working together, but also using each other as inspiration and as photo subjects was something alien to me.

For the change of heart and convincing me to open my eyes I have to thank my friend Paola.

She’s nothing if not persistent, driven by a hunger of great things that is matched only by her heart and love for the people around her. She's not only a great photographer, It also helps that she has one of the most genuinely warm smiles I’ve come across

She told me about this thing sunrise thing happening in Seaport and argued with me until finally convinced me to give it a try. I figure at the worst I'll get a few cool photos of the city in a area I don't normally visit.

Pier 17 swarmed by eager instagrammers in the morning fog

That was two years ago and I'm still amazed by seeing the relationships that were formed that day. I still look at those photos with a smile in my face. I've always been grateful to her for pushing me to go. It really only took that one meet for me to get it. Only the dedicated come to shoot sunrise, they bring a passion and for the most part an unique vision. It’s the type of inspiration that can feed an artist. Embracing the community has changed the way I shoot.

I recommend to anyone that's on the fence about joining a meet to give it chance. Come to one with an open mind. It just might change the way you shoot forever.

SenenCito 2/25/16 SenenCito 2/25/16

Senen does Writing: On the bipolarism of inspiration and plagiarism

I get a lot of people tagging models and photographers in my Instagram. Like a night fox, they drop someone's name in my feed and then promptly disappear, never saying a word and never hearing from them again. I've always been conflicted on how to react to this.

model: https://www.instagram.com/lilyleila123/ — model: https://www.instagram.com/lilyleila123/

I get several people tagging models and photographers on my Instagram account. Like a night fox, they drop someone's name in my feed and then promptly disappear…never saying a word and never hearing from them again. I've always been conflicted on how to react to this.

Some days I am cranky, frustrated and very protective of my work. I know where it ends up. I see someone who's never done anything remotely related to paint suddenly posting images that are disturbingly similar. Sometimes they even end up getting featured all over and praised by their originality. Sometimes they’re sent by friends. Usually followed by messages like “DID YOU SEE THIS!" or "dude this this guy copied your work".

model: https://www.instagram.com/lauraalemanofficial/

Then there's that repetitive question I get, always from a photographer: What paint do you use? This one makes me want to write an essay how I experiment with paint so I can tell those stories about the long nights where my wife and I would microwave play dough. Or the time I used the wrong paint and ended up getting two different bathtubs completely clogged. Or even the time that we baked colored powder and we ended up looking like something straight out of Breaking Bad..

It makes me wonder what my neighbors think about the funky smells that can come out of my apartment. Short answer: it's never just one source of paint; I’m still experimenting and changing things around.

Camille getting her hands dirty. See more at instagram.com/camille_dp

There are days however, when I stop myself from being so defensive, I realize that inspiration comes to us all in many forms.

My mother used to work long hours at Plaza Las Americas mall in Puerto Rico. She would pick us up after school and take care of us at work. We would spend long hours in a huge shopping mall trying to figure out a way to kill time. A lot of that time was spent in the now defunct Borders thumbing through photography books for what felt like an eternity.

Being amazed by how incredible David’s La Chappelle's use of color was. Gazing at Jaume de la Iguana’s incredible cinematic look. Observing Helmut Newton’s and trying to understand his take on the female form. I still remember the smell, the feel and texture of those books. The heavy photography paper in my hands felt so rich. It’s why I love the physical medium so much.

I still do this!

I realize then that people thumbing through my instagram is just a modern version of what I was doing and I’m mostly being silly. I get back to feeling proud that someone is looking through my images and new stories are being inspired from my work. I remember that if I didn't embrace experimentation and failures I wouldn't have found the love for what I’m doing today. It has led me to some incredible moments.

At the end of the day my images are creating a narration, a conversation and maybe one day after I'm dead and gone there will be someone thumbing through my books, digital or otherwise, with a bright eyes feeling just as inspired as I was.

SenenCito 1/26/16 SenenCito 1/26/16

Senen Does Writing: The Issue

I've spent the last ten years of my life doing mostly nude photography. Last I checked, I have well over 2 million shutter presses and over 400 thousand photos saved on my numerous hard drives. In this time I've seen a lot of naked bodies. It's a privilege to see humans drop their pretenses along with their clothes and embrace their vulnerabilities.

A lot of my subjects compare the process to therapy. Many times they come in as strangers, they talk to me about their life and by the end of it they leave as friends

A crucial component of this is my wife Camille. She is always with me working just as hard as I do, sometimes applying paint to our subjects other times becoming a subject herself.

I can't overstate how much she means to me. Her support, her willingness and dedication to do what we love is incredible.

Every day I fall in love with her all over again.

My work has been published in more mediums than I care to count at the moment . I've had some fantastic solo exhibitions where my photography has adorned the walls of incredible exclusive places. Places I would never had seen had it not been for my work and the people that believe in me.

Thanks to these opportunities I was able to sell my prints for what they are worth and have printed aluminum masterpieces which I'm hugely proud of.

Controversy comes naturally as there's always someone that feels uncomfortable looking at my images. While I expect it to happen I’m pretty blown away by what people choose to find offensive.

Recently we became parents as our little Kael was dropped into our hands screaming and crying. As parents we've been thrust into a crazy new world filled with unexpected insane challenges and some curious human behavior.

I would never imagine the two photos that would cause me the biggest grief are the ones of my pregnant wife and the photo of her breastfeeding our child. It boggles my mind to think THIS is what finally caused people to be so upset with me.

I've received a fair share of messages I won't post here. I've heard of people contacting my family members letting them know how appalled they are by these images.

"OMG Camille is NAKED! He's showing off his wife! OMG He's showing off your grandson while he feeds. That's incredibly rude! THOSE PHOTOS SHOULD BE PRIVATE!" – This is really my interpretation of your reactions

These words are for you, the people that follow me that are appalled by what they see in my feed.

What is wrong with you? How is it possible to find a moment as honest as this offensive? Don't you understand that you are what's wrong in this world? Where does this need to feel offended come from?

Please do me a huge solid and delete me from your social media. It’s extremely easy to delete me from Facebook, unfollow me from Instagram etc. I promise I won’t find it offensive at all.

I won't censor my images because they offend your senses. I refuse to believe that's the way things should be.

I'm tired of these petty fights.

All I want is a life worth living. A life behind a lens that celebrates beauty and captures imagination.

All I'll leave is a collection of photos.

senen llanos 9/13/14 senen llanos 9/13/14

Senen Does Writing: What's life without a little adventure

Two days ago on 9/11 I read an article prophecizing the arrival of an aurora borealis near NY. As someone who lived in the caribbean for most of their life, these lights and their dance is the stuff of dreams.

I talked with the lovely Marzena who was willing to pick us up at new Haven and take us to a location with minimal light pollution suitable for capturing the lights. With less than five hours to plan and 250 miles to our destination, Camille and I put everything in two bags and got on the 5:33 train to new Haven.

We met Marzena at the train station and spent the next hours on the road. Her enthusiasm and sense of adventure made the trip fantastic.

After several hours of driving we arrived to Halibut Point State Park. Where it was pitch black save for the light of the moon. The parking was pretty full as many more hopefuls arrived to see the lights.

With only the moon as our light,the stars had an opportunity touching brilliantly. They reminded us of how small we are.

We hiked to the northern most point of the park where dozens of people where waiting calmly staring into the darkness of the sea.

Covered In blankets or warming each other in loving embrace, the dreamers bought a sense of peace to the darkness.

One of the dreamers was a local astrologist and artist named Alan Winter. He informed us we would miss the aurora. Our moon was too brilliant and the solar flares were not powerful enough for our area. While it was disappointing news,we were still in love with everything that was happening.

The lake in the park.looking closely you can spot flashlights behind the trees exploring the area

One of the dreamers with an unsuccessful attempt at recovering a camera battery.

Aftersome time, we decided to head back hoping to crash in the first decent hotel room we found.

The next day after crashing in a random hotel.

Before dropping us at the bus station, Marzena took us to Boston for our first glimpse of the city.

First time seeing Quincy market in Boston.

Because every kid has done this once in their youth.

Now we return to our city, not disappointed at all because we couldn't capture the aurora borealis but grateful for our little adventure.

Where to next.

SenenCito 2/22/13 SenenCito 2/22/13

Senen Does Writing: Sunset with Marien

It's the start of another year and another excuse to spend a day with Marien in curious situations . This year we decided on the sunset. Looking for the dying sun as we tried our best to capture the magic of the moment, we headed for the private beaches of Dorado where our good friends Yiyi and Gaby gave us access to a serene beach which served as the perfect backdrop for the session.

Note: this series is part of a long term project I shoot every year with my friend Marien. If you want to read on the others years, you can check the previous blog entry here

It was the start of another year and another excuse to spend a day with Marien in Puerto Rico, getting in curious situations while capturing images. This year we decided on the sunset. Looking for the dying sun as we tried our best to capture the magic of the moment, we headed for the private beaches of Dorado where our good friends Yiyi and Gaby gave us access to a serene beach which served as the perfect backdrop for the session.

This time I left all the lights and only brought a reflector with me that my lovely fiancee was wielding for me. It seems almost like returning to the first year, going back to the basics and enjoying the simple pleasure of the shoot.

In order to reach the place, we had to jump climb down a wall which gave us plenty of privacy except for the rare lone fisherman that was in the area

This year we had a curious visitor, we noticed a stray dog that was walking all along the coast.

He was a scared guy that didn't let us get closer, however he got stuck in the area and couldn't find the spot to climb out. We stopped shooting and tried our best to help him, but the little buddy wasn't having any of our help.

Seeing as we couldn't really do anything without risking getting bitten, we continued our shooting while he sat near us keeping a nervous and steady watch.

Marien as always is a joy and pleasure to shoot and helping us keep the shoot as fun and light as possible.

Once we finished shooting, we tried our hand at directing our buddy out of the rocks.

This time he finally listened to us and was able to find the path out of the rocks.

The last time I saw him he was enjoying a victory poop as he ran away to other adventures.

Once the shoot ended, we sat in great company hearing and telling funny stories, sad stories and just hating that the moment had to end. Until the next one...

SenenCito 1/25/12 SenenCito 1/25/12

Senen Does Writing: Mornings with Marien

It starts like many ideas usually do; a spur of the moment, inspired by the motivation to create something that will be memorable long after its time has passed. The day was December 30, 2005 and we were celebrating Marién's move to New York. I met Marién earlier that year at a friend's gathering, a dancer and Yoga student; she was drawn to my passion in learning photography and was willing to pose patiently as I fumbled with my recently acquired camera learning how to pose people. Over the year we became very good friends and her eager smiles and positive attitude became a very welcome sight.

That night we celebrated new beginnings with old friends in a restaurant located in old San Juan called “Ostra Cosa”, as we were leaving the restaurant I pitched the idea to her;” Let's stay and take photos of the last sunrise of the year, frame the end of one moment as a new phase in life starts". Marién, being the positive and eager soul loved the idea, so we hurried on to "El Morro" to greet the sunrise with camera in hand.

It seemed like a great idea at the time, a nice symbolic way to greet the New Year, at the moment I had no idea that this would become tradition for us.

The next year turned out to be a perfect lesson in being prepared. Marién was back in Puerto Rico and we got together planning to repeat this. We decided on shooting at her apartment's rooftop in Carolina, the urban landscape giving us a nice contrast to a warm rising sun. Sadly, our plans were turned to mud as the rain had other plans.

So there we were sitting in my car frustrated beyond belief with a nonstop torrent of rain washing around us. It’s a shame my younger self still hadn’t learned a lesson in perseverance that great photography would require. We didn't shoot anything, just took a few frustrated snaps on the car and went to our respective homes.

In hindsight it’s easy to see how we could’ve gotten a few umbrellas to shoot in the rain as we adapted to the situation. In the future things would go differently; rain should’ve been a reason to adapt instead of give up. It was a lesson that only time could teach.

2007 made it impossible for us to take our photo, but we came back with a vengeance for 2008. Marién was now a Yoga teacher and I had was more proficient on the use of flashes, we retook our idea deciding on a rooftop shot at my parents' home in Dorado.

This photo reminds me how patient my parents were with my wacky behavior. Here I was at 4am setting up staircases and walking along the roof of the house with a girl they barely know in order to take a simple photo. I still wonder what was going through their brains.

The years had also given us both more knowledge in our respective areas. Marién was more impressive than ever, showing not only grace and agility but also greater endurance in retaining postures. I had gotten better at using flashes and learning to play with umbrella.

Needless to say we were both very pleased with the results.

As it happens with many things in life, time will make people slowly drift apart, our different responsibilities and goals meant that by the end of 2009 we had barely communicated for most of the year. When I finally gave her a call, it was like we hadn't spoken for just a day, our sunrise project would continue and we were back in planning to make we created something memorable.

This time, we decided on the botanical garden located in Rio Piedras, a lovely and relaxing place where many people go to walk or meditate. We arrived very early when everything was still completely dark; this gave us some time to catch up while we drove around looking for a suitable shooting spot. The security noticed us from the moment I opened one of the umbrellas, they warned us against doing professional shooting without permits, however they didn’t push the issue and allowed us to continue to a nearby spot.

Once we reached our destination, the rain began showering us, first gently and then furiously as it began to lose patience over our insistence to finish our shoot no matter the conditions. We continued shooting using some leaves to save the flashes from dying and doing our best to hurry. When we finished shooting, we quickly stashed the gear in the bags and hiked back to the car, feeling like little kids with the satisfaction of knowing we had taken great photos as we walked while being drenched in the rain.

2010 was the year of the unexpected. Changes coming at the most casual of moments, like lightning striking when you least expect it, these changes forcing me to rethink priorities and making me wonder how far ahead could I really plan my life, it was a volatile time in my life that would bring about even more change in 2011.

As before we didn't have much communication until the end of the year when tradition screamed at us to get together and continue with our project. This time our location would be a natural reserve called Tortuguero lagoon, a serene place that served as a great backdrop for our newest photo. Having such great chemistry with Marién, we arrived, shot and left in less than 30 minutes. We both knew what we were looking for, a peaceful relaxing photo with water elements covering the bottom of our frame.

Besides this shot, I was also concentrating on recording the lasts days of the year with the hope of telling a story in a simple and short format. You can see a little of our shoot by 1:40 of this video.

Many of the changes 2011 brought were the result of events that happened late 2010. The biggest being my move from Puerto Rico to New York, separating myself from everyone I ever cared about in the hopes of finding a better life.

With this change in life and 1600 mile standing between us, completing this year's project would require a bit more planning than in previous times. We had hoped to do it as before, but sadly with plane tickets for the new year were prohibitively expensive so our shoot would to be postponed until early January when travel became more reasonable. With a little bit of luck, we locked the date and prepared for another early morning shoot.

It was the perfect year to go back to our first location, "El Morro" in Old San Juan. It seems ironic now, when we started our project, it was a celebration of Marién's new life in New York, now years later we celebrated my all too brief return to Puerto Rico .It was also the first time we had help on our shoot, as my girlfriend brought her trademark humor with us.

After we were done, we stopped by "La bombonera" for some very tasty breakfast and reminiscenced over previous years, the good times and the bad. As we were about to leave we realized, until we had done this shoot we didn't feel like the year had ended properly, it was a good feeling.